top
Home Labels Contact
Summer Night / The Year 1941 a.o.

Summer Night / The Year 1941 a.o.

Vladimir Ashkenazy / St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra / Repin

Label: Exton
Format: CD
Barcode: 4526977003234
barcode
Catalog number: OVCL 323
Releasedate: 22-07-11
This recording was first issued in Japan in 2003, the composer's memorial of 50 year anniversary of his death, featuring repertoire rather rarely performed. However, those works reflect clearly the portrait of the composer who was struggled to survive, as a Russian, the tumultuous first half of 20th century. Mr.Ashkenazy, the musician from Russia who shares the same part of the century, puts a spotlight on those works and provides the best interpretation with Russian orchestra, chorus and soloist.
  • One of the most revered musicians of our time, with a career spanning over fifty years of music-making both at the keyboard and in front of the orchestra
  • In January 2009 he took up the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser to the Sydney Symphony, here the famous conducter stands in front of the St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
  • One of the most outstanding pianists of our time, he regularly records new discs such as the 1999 Grammy award-winning Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues and his recent release of French piano duos with Vovka Ashkenazy
  • Furthermore Ashkenazy is Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonia, Iceland and NHK Symphony Orchestras and Music Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra
  • The St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Russia's oldest symphonic ensemble, was founded in 1882
  • In 2007, the orchestra - celebrated its 125th anniversary
A 20th-century Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is well known for his symphonic fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf", the ballets "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella", piano sonatas, concertos, and the "Classical Symphony", etc. These representative works, characterized by familiar melodies, lyrics, vivid toccatas, and clarity with a strong tonic emphasis, are still often performed.  On the other hand, the works on this CD are rarely played or recorded. These pieces enable us to imagine the composer living through the violent changes of the first half of the 20th century. Though he never used his music to transmit a radical message, he devoted himself to music. But in fact the circumstances of his life, such as the Russian Revolution, living in foreign countries, World Wars, and the social order of the former Soviet Union which compelled him to compromise, sometimes had a deep influence on his music…
(excerpts from the CD linernote)